Santino Marella: Does WWE's Top Comedy Wrestler Need a Character Makeover?

Whether you love his goofy gimmick or not, there is no question Santino Marella is entertaining. He gets a huge reaction from fans, and is one of the better wrestlers when it comes to cutting funny promos.

After his more recent comic events though, is it time for the WWE's top comedy wrestler to undergo a character makeover?

Santino has proven before that he can wrestle, but do his goofy antics and comedy skits in and outside of the ring get in the way?

Every time Santino shows us he can be a real wrestler, he does five more things that make us question his character all together.

His more recent actions with Aksana have to make us question if the WWE think's their audience consists of only 5-year-olds.

Can Santino be entertaining? Of course he can, and he's a pretty good wrestler as well. However, his comedy antics are getting in the way of his wrestling ability, and after recently losing the US title, Santino needs to ease up a bit on the comedy, or go through a new character makeover.

The Cobra

Santino is a comedian in and outside of the ring. When are his ridiculous antics enough though? Santino's comedic exploits are overbearing at this point. More recently, since SummerSlam, the whole angle with the Cobra being distracted by Aksana is way too much.

Are we supposed to believe the Cobra thinks on its own?

No one believes Santino’s hand thinks on its own, not even the 5-year-olds.

The bigger issue though, is how the Cobra factor ruined the entire match. This was for the US title after all, shouldn't this have been more of a wrestling match than a comedy skit?

Santino getting the US title, and maintaining it for as long as he did without really defending it is bad enough. Then to give a wrestler like Antonio Cesaro a push by having him win the match, but only because the Cobra was distracted, isn't really a push.

Cesaro and Marella should have battled it out, with Cesaro being the better man in the end.

Why is the focus lately around Santino's Cobra finisher having a mind of its own? His comedic antics can be entertaining, but lately it's gone too far.

A real Wrestler

Santino might be a comedian in the ring, but that doesn't mean he can't wrestle. The best example of Santino's skill came during the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view.

Santino would be the last one left facing off against Daniel Bryan, and while Santino didn't win, he would certainly deliver.

The crowd was behind Santino the whole time, and this match not only showed how popular Santino is, but how he also has real wrestling ability.

With such a fan following, why does the WWE focus more on the goofy part of Santino, rather than the wrestling part?

Santino can wrestle, so while the WWE may have slapped the US title belt on him because of his popularity, the WWE should have used the belt as a chance to show off Santino's real in-ring ability. Instead, they barely had Santino defend the title.

The comedy part is getting in the way of Santino's wrestling ability, so maybe it's time for a makeover.

Nothing Wrong With a Good Laugh

Santino Marella has had some hysterical moments in the WWE. From dressing up like Chris Jericho, to Marella giving Cody Rhodes a Christmas present last year, the main part of Santino's charm and character is his humor.

Marella is proof that regardless of the era that wrestling is in, wrestlers can still be extremely funny. There is nothing wrong with a good laugh, but was anyone laughing this Monday night when again, we saw the Cobra distracted by Aksana?

Sure, Santino was funny when he mimicked Slater, but let's not forget Santino was the US champ not too long ago, and now is wrestling Slater.

Then there were the boring chants to top their match off.

Santino is at the point now, where if the WWE want's to fully take advantage of his character, they should tone down the silly antics and have him show off more of his wrestling ability. Of course Marella gets a good laugh out of the kids when he does something funny with the Cobra.

But what about the rest of the fans who know Santino can wrestle? What about the fans who actually want to see more of Santino the wrestler and less of Santino the comedian?

Maybe his gimmicks are becoming stale, or perhaps the WWE simply doesn't know what to do with Marella, but at this point, if he continues to get more and more ridiculous, a character makeover might be all that's left to take Marella away from boring Heath Slater matches, and more toward holding another title.